


the one who always needed someone

by dracoommalfoy



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy-centric, The Umbrella Academy (TV) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26031802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracoommalfoy/pseuds/dracoommalfoy
Summary: or, essentially, all of the times five hargreeves held in his emotionsvs the one time he let them out
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Allison Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 9
Kudos: 389





	the one who always needed someone

**Author's Note:**

> writing this for hargreeves appreciation week, but specifically for five, because he really just needs a hug :)

**[1]**

Deep down Five knew he was being dramatic. But sometimes he couldn't help it. Because sometimes the rest of his siblings were worried about Luther's cut lip when Five's entire arm was bleeding out. So maybe, just maybe, he was being dramatic in hopes to get _anybody's_ attention. Not that he'd ever admit to that.

"Screw them," Five growled, using his teeth to rip the bandage to the correct length since his one hand was currently stopping the bleeding on the other hand. "I don't need them," he muttered, slamming the bathroom door behind him as he shoved his arm under the faucet and rinsed away the blood.

And he most certainly did not hiss and wince in pain when the rushing water stung his arm. He quickly pulled it away and turned off the tap.

"Never have, never will," he continued seething to himself as he tried his arm and wrapped the bandage over his cut. But of course no one would be checking on him anyways, not when they're all currently mad at him for ruining the mission.

But not as mad as he is at himself.

Five let out a groan of frustration before plopping down onto his bed and staring at the dark spots of red that were already seeping through the bandage. It was _his_ fault he got this injury. _His_ fault Luther got his. Five had been distracted and messed up his space jump.

He had let his guard down for one second when he saw that a gun had been pointed at Allison's head, and everyone else was too busy fighting to notice. 

It wasn't that he thought Allison couldn't stand up for herself, Five very well knew she could. But a hand was clamped over her mouth and she couldn't Rumor her way out of that one and Five, though still not willing to admit it, got scared.

So he space jumped. But the second the blue began surrounding him, the knife had ripped through his arm, causing the jump to fail. Everyone then noticed Allison and Luther went running to help, only to get injured himself. Allison got knocked out, and Klaus and Ben had to carry her out while Luther covered them. And all Five did was fall backward into a space jump, ending right here in his room.

They all thought he was a coward for not doing anything. But he only got hurt _because_ he was trying to do something.

Five hated his siblings. He hated them so much he loved them.

A gentle knock on the door drew him out of his thoughts and his head shot up. Five quickly blinked to clear the definitely-not-tears out of his eyes just as Ben opened the door and stepped into the room.

"Hey," Five's brother started. "I saw you got a nasty cut-"

"Oh, finally!" Five snapped, jumping to his feet. He didn't mean to be rude to Ben, in fact, Ben was one of the siblings Five actually got along with. But he couldn't help it.

Ben frowned. "Five, I was just coming in here to see if you're alright-"

"I'm _fine_ ," Five spat, scowling at Ben. "I bet you didn't even care to ask. I bet Mom or Pogo sent you in."

"No, Five, that's not-"

"Just get out!" Five yelled, and angrily ripped off the bandage that was now fully red with blood. "I don't need you or Mom or anybody to check in on me! I can take care of myself.'

Number Six looked like he wanted to argue or help. But then Five walked away into the bathroom again, and Ben just sighed and shook his head, leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

**[2]**

When Five threw the first punch, he knew he had made a mistake.

And Five doesn't make mistakes very often. But when he does, he won't lie and say that he didn't. Because when he finally couldn't stand Diego's taunting any longer and hit him, that was a mistake.

Not because he was scared of Diego. Diego tried to act tough and intimidating but Five knew the stuttering boy underneath. He knew the boy who's eyes grew wide when he saw any of his siblings get hurt in a fight and he knew the boy who silently blinked tears from his eyes after Dad told him that Number Two didn't perform as well as Number One.

Five loves his siblings very much. And he doesn't like seeing anyone besides himself insult or hurt them.

Except he doesn't hurt them. He doesn't punch his brothers or pull his sisters' hair. So when he punched Diego, everyone froze. Then Diego spat out blood and punched Five right back. Then everyone froze again. Then Five turned on his heel and raced to his room and stayed in it all day.

People knock. Mom uses her robot abilities to open the door and give Five dinner. Five does not stop his lip from bleeding and, rather, lets it dry as he distracts himself with his equations on the walls.

Diego walks into Five's room right before bed without knocking. Five looks up and for a moment both are still and silent.

Diego hadn't wiped the blood from the cut on his forehead. Five could still feel the blood on his chin. Neither say "I'm sorry," which is the words that both stubborn brothers wish they could get out.

Instead, Diego glares and mutters, "You're an asshole, Five. You know I didn't mean to get Klaus hurt."

Five winces when he remembers earlier in that day. The scene of the bullet grazing Klaus's leg burns bright in front of Five's eyes and he remembers rushed to catch his brother as he fell.

Klaus always annoys Five. They're complete opposites. Klaus is bright and emotional; Five dark and closed off. And for some reason Five feels the need to protect his brother, to protect all his siblings. But Klaus a little bit more than the rest. 

Because, yes, Klaus is annoying. But when Five's in a mood and everyone his trying to talk to him and figure out what's wrong, Klaus just talks near him. He tells stories without stopping to see if Five is listening but when Klaus hears his brother laugh softly he knows he's doing a good job.

"I don't give a shit, Diego. You did." Five glares right back.

"Well then why do you care so much about this? Why are you so worked up? Aren't you Number Five Hargreeves, the heartless and emotionless bastard of the Academy?" Diego exclaims.

And Five stops. He runs out of energy to argue just as he runs out of fuel to space jump. "Yeah," he says bitterly, "That's me." He pushes Diego out of the room and closes his door.

The dried blood on his chin gets washed away by the tears following the same path.

**[3]**

As much as she should, Vanya Hargreeves did not hate her siblings. Sure, she didn't love them and care for them with her whole heart, but she didn't hate them. 

She didn't hate Luther, who mostly pretended she didn't exist.

She didn't hate Diego, who only acknowledged her with dirty looks.

She didn't hate Allison, who gave her polite smiles and asked her how her day was never really bothered to listen to the answer.

She didn't hate Klaus, who always cracked jokes to make everyone laugh, but never really told any to only Vanya.

She didn't hate Ben, who check up on her and talk to her, but end the conversation quickly when he had to leave for missions.

And she didn't hate Five. Five, who scowled and rolled his eyes and glared at all of his siblings but for some reason always wanted to hear what Vanya thought about his equations and ideas. Not because he thought her opinions were valuable, but simply because she'd listen when no one else would.

And that was fine. Because sometimes when Five was in a "good" mood, he'd listen to her, too.

So when Vanya heard the all-too familiar slam of Five's bedroom door, she made sure the hallway was clear, then snuck off and knocked on his door.

It swung open to reveal a very angry Five, glaring down at Vanya, who was slightly shorter than him. "What do you want?"

"I- I just thought you might want to talk..." She trailed off.

"I don't want to talk!" Five exclaimed, then took a deep breath. "But... it might be nice to complain to something that isn't my wall." And with that he stepped aside, opening the door more to let Vanya in.

Her eyes widened when she stepped into Five's messy room. And by messy, she didn't mean clothes strewn about or candy wrappers across the desk. She meant "messy" by the thousands of letters and numbers that were scrawled over three whiteboards, then continuing on to Five's actual walls.

"So I guess the equations don't talk back?" Vanya asked, and Five rolled his eyes.

"No, Vanya, they don't talk back. Although I wish they did because right now they're being little pieces of shit and won't show me their secrets!" His voice grew as he pointed an accusing finger at an innocent _5+e_. 

Vanya stayed silent, knowing Five was about to talk like he did to the walls; not really expecting nor wanting a reply.

"Dad doesn't believe in me!" Five pulled at his hair. "He doesn't think I can do it! _No, Number Five, you're not ready_. Not ready my ass! I've gotten great at space jumping! I could do it to-"

He disappeared and reappeared on his desk, "-here, or-"

Now he was on his bed, "-here, or even-"

Then he was gone and opening the door from the outside, striding in and closing the door behind him, "here! Honestly! And he doesn't think that I can time travel. I am way beyond my years, in fact, in probably the most talented out of the Academy. But _no_ , it's always _Luther_. Stupid _Number One_ , leading everything. Luther's brain has melted from thinking about Allison! He doesn't know what he's doing!"

Vanya winced and decided to take the risk. "Five, I don't think it's about leadership."

Five wheeled around to face her, an angry glint in his eyes. "You're not supposed to talk."

"Listen to me, though, like you sometimes do," She stood and walked over to him. "I don't think Dad's worried about leadership. I think that he's worried you'll go too far. What if you time travel and get stuck for some reason? What if you space jump to France and then run out of fuel and can't come back? I think he's worried about _you_."

"Dad doesn't worry about anything but the dollars in his bank account, Vanya!" Five exclaimed. "God, why do I even bother talking to any of you, you're all useless! Just get out."

"Five, please-"

"Go away."

So, admitting defeat, Vanya sighed a sad sigh and left her angry brother's room.

Luther stood across the hall, his eyes wide and unblinking as he watched Five's door.

Five does talk pretty loudly.

Vanya made eye contact with Luther for a second. 

He blinked and walked away.

That was the last time they saw Five for a while.

**[4]**

Five sees Luther first when he lands roughly on the grassy ground outside of the Academy. His heart stops as his head lifts to peer at his siblings.

Forty-five years it's been. Forty-five years since he's heard Klaus's laugh or seen Ben's magic tricks or got nicked by Diego's knife or heard Vanya's violin or watched Luther and Allison blush at each other. Forty-five years.

And now they're all in front of him. Different, yes, well into their twenty's, but still his siblings.

Five sees Luther when he stands, because _wow_ Luther got big. And he's blocking the view of everyone else.

But now it's just Luther as he stands with Five in Dad's office. "So, he's gone, then?" Five asks after a few agonizing minutes of silence because what- _what_ \- do you say to a brother you haven't seen in either seventeen or forty-five years.

"Yep," Luther nods. "His monocle's missing, too. I've been trying to look into that but so far I really don't have many leads."

"And you won't get any more," Five rolled his eyes. "The monocle's got nothing to do with this, Luther, I already told you all. The apocalypse is coming and all you care about is making Dad's death into something bigger than it actually is."

Then they're both silent because it's been a while since Luther's had to deal with Five's short temper, and even back when they were kids he was never the one to deal with it. So he does what seems to be the only thing Hargreeves siblings know how to do. He gets mad.

"Five, you don't know that the monocle has nothing to do with the apocalypse-"

" _I_ don't know?" Five cuts him off. " _I'm_ not the one who was stuck alone for all these years. _I'm_ not the one who saw his siblings _dead bodies_ and had to grow old without them?"

Luther closes his mouth because he can't and doesn't really want to argue with that. Sure, it was lonely in the house when everyone left and it was lonely on the moon but at least he wasn't a kid when it happened to him. Five was thirteen when he found everyone he cared about dead.

But Five isn't tearing up and hugging his siblings and telling them he loves them and missed them. He's glaring at them and insulting them as if no time has passed at all, and that doesn't sit right with Luther. "Dude, what's up with you? Did you forget how to feel?"

Five glares. Luther expected nothing less. "What's wrong with me is that I haven't seen you guys in a long time and I can't-"

And he stops because his voice broke and his eyes are kind of blurry and Luther doesn't think he has ever seen Five cry before.

And then he's gone, storming up the steps to his equation-filled walls and slammed door where he can be alone. 

Just as it's been for the past fifty-eight years.

**[5]**

Allison and Five both roll their eyes when Diego breaks the glass on the door of Harold Jenkins' (Leonard Peabody?) house. Allison mentions that the doors unlocked and they walk in, ignoring a groaning Diego, who's laying in a pile of glass.

They split up and start searching the house for anything that might give them clues as to who Harold Jenkins is and what he wants with Vanya. Five feels his heart ache for a second before shaking his head and continuing to search.

Vanya, who only ever wanted to help Five. As kids, when she would listen to him, and as an adult, when she offered to let him stay in her apartment. And now she's in the hands of the man who's going to cause the apocalypse.

Five wanders through the kitchen and makes it upstairs, meeting up with Allison, who's in one of the bedrooms.

"Hey," she says, and Five internally winces. He knows that tone. That's the tone of someone who's trying to start a serious conversation, something Five doesn't do unless it's about statistics or facts.

So he doesn't say anything back, he just nods, and busies himself with flipping through the bookshelves.

"Five," Allison tries again, "Are- are you okay? I mean, I know you were always closer to Vanya to the rest of us, but I promise she'll be okay-"

"I was only closer because I actually talked to her. I never cared if she talked back but at least I was another voice she could listen to. Something other than her violin. The rest of you ignored her," Five said through gritted teeth.

Allison let out a deep breath. "I know, and I'm sorry. But I'm trying, now, to fix things."

"It's not me you need to be apologizing to."

So the lapsed into silence again, Allison opening drawers and Five ruffling through the closet. He resists the urge to slam a door when Allison turns around to keep talking to him.

"I wanted to talk to her, you know. I just never knew how. I wanted to talk to you, too, Five. I always thought you were so brilliant. But I just spoke to Klaus mostly-"

Five breaths in sharp breath at Klaus's name. Recently Klaus had been kidnapped and Five hadn't even _noticed_ because he was too busy obsessing over the apocalypse and that _stupid_ eye. And he let his brother get hurt. He didn't think he could every forgive himself for hurting Klaus like that.

Allison's still trying to talk when Five leaves the room to keep looking around.

Five and Allison don't fight. They don't yell. But that's because they don't talk. They've got nothing to argue about. And that's probably a lot worse.

**[+1]**

Five studies the outside of Allison's house for about thirty seconds before heading inside to find her. For him, it wasn't a big deal. He's been here all of a few days. But Allison's apparently been here for two years and has a husband.

He decides to ring the doorbell, and almost ( _almost_ ) laughs at the look on Allison's face when she opens the door. "Five!" She exclaims, and steps forward for what seems like a hug before remembering that he doesn't like physical confrontation like that.

So, she smiles and steps aside, letting him in. He says hello and is in the middle of explaining the second apocalypse when someone walks out into the kitchen from the hall.

"Hey, Allison, this shirt-" he stops.

Five stops, too. Because it's _Klaus_. 

Klaus, who, the last time Five saw him, made Ben appear because he finally was able to harness his powers and prove to everyone that he wasn't just some useless drunkie. That he's powerful and capable.

Five had been meaning to tell him he was proud of him. But it didn't happen. Because he time traveled them back and got everyone separated.

Klaus, who would always slide Five his pistachio ice cream at dinner because he didn't like it and would grin and wink when Five slid his mint chocolate chip back to Klaus.

Klaus, who would frown when he saw Ben or Vanya leave Five's room after a slammed door and then go in to find his angry brother blaming himself for something he didn't do. So Klaus would sit down on Five's bed and tell him stories of wars he's never fought and movies he's never seen until he heard that short and quiet, but still there, laughter from Five who was facing the opposite direction.

Klaus, who knew Five thought he was responsible for his siblings- especially Klaus- if they got hurt, but didn't realize that Klaus would always feel responsible for making sure that Five was okay at the end of the day.

Five barely heard Allison when she said something about leaving to go talk to her husband quickly. He was too focused on Klaus, who was smiling down at him.

"Aw, Little Fivey, I've missed you!" Klaus exclaims, and steps forward, his arms spread open before he quickly remembered and dropped them. "Right. No physical confrontation. That's okay, i can do that. Hey- there's this _great_ tale I just heard about a frog and a scorpion, wanna-"

He was cut off when Five stepped forward and threw his arms around Klaus's middle. Klaus was frozen in shock for a few seconds before he undoubtedly wrapped his arms around Five and hugged him back. He didn't question it and didn't comment on it.

Because he has been wishing for this moment since the first day he made it his responsibility to check in on Five all those years ago.

Because he has been wishing for this moment so Five can finally _feel_. So Five can finally open up like he deserves.

Five pulls away a little and Klaus sees glistening tear tracks on his face for the first time in his whole life. "I- I'm so proud of you," Five says quickly. "That- that night in 2019 when you s-saved us by making Ben appear. I- I knew you could do it. I've always known you could do it, Kl-Klaus. And you did. And I never got to tell you and then I got you stuck here-" He broke off, more tears falling.

Klaus crouched down so he was closer to Five's height. He pulled him in close, savoring the feeling of hugging Five. "Hey, hey, shh," Klaus said soothingly. "It's alright. Thank you, Five. I'm okay now. You're okay. We're all gravy, right?"

He felt Five shake his head. "Th-there's another apocalypse coming, Klaus. I'm putting you- _all_ of you- in danger again."

Klaus pulled back and looked Five in the eye. "Well we got rid of one apocalypse together, right? And we'll get rid of this one together again, too."

Five nodded and wiped his eyes, and Klaus slowly stood back up again. "It's really good to see you, Five. I've missed you a lot."

Five opened his mouth, the words on the tip of his tongue. Three words that he's wanted to say to all of his siblings for so long but just can't.

Smiling, Klaus nodded. "It's okay. I know. And I, you, brother."

Beginnings were hard. Opening up was hard. Hugging was hard. And saying things was even harder. But everyone had to start somewhere. Klaus would hug Five as long as he needed to before Five was ready to hug anyone else or say anything else. And Five started to realize that hugs were actually really nice.

The pair got ready to leave Allison's house to pick her up and head to meet the others.

"Oh, Klaus?" Five asked innocently.

"Yes, dear brother?"

"Tell anyone about this and I'll peel your skin off."

Klaus let out a sharp laugh, and soon enough, Five was laughing with him.

And it felt really good.


End file.
